Bruises
by Amelia89
Summary: It was ironic that the man who had asked her when she had started self defence lessons with him if it was because she was afraid of her ex-boyfriend was now the very man that she was afraid of.


**Just a quick one-shot.**

* * *

Aria Montgomery quickly switched off her alarm and silently climbed out of bed, every single morning she was faced with the arduous task of having to find something to wear that was still 100% 'Aria' but also covered the numerous bruises on her body.

The bruises caused by her new boyfriend Jake.

Once she had successfully chosen an outfit for the day – a long sleeved loose fitting sweater and a pair of leggings she grabbed her long fluffy bathrobe from the back of her bedroom door and quietly padded across the landing to the bathroom ensuring that the door was securely locked behind her.

Aria turned the shower on and once she was satisfied with the temperature she slowly removed the oversized Hollis College sweater that she'd slept in the previous night from her body. It had belonged to her ex-boyfriend Ezra and now offered her the comfort that he no longer could. Aria winced slightly at the pain in her ribs as she stretched her arms up to pull the sweater over her head; she dropped it onto the floor and turned to look at her almost naked body in the full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door.

The bruises that marred her petite frame were a vast array of colours varying from a light yellow one on her wrist – the first bruise Jake ever gave her to a deep purple, almost black across the right side of her ribcage which she'd received the night before. Aria's eyes filled with tears as she took in her appearance just like they had done every morning for the past two weeks ever since the night Jake had given her that first bruise.

_Two weeks earlier_

_"Aria?" Holden Strauss said as he walked past The Rosewood Grille. "Hey, how're you doing?" Holden walked closer to his childhood friend and embraced her warmly._

_"I'm okay," Aria replied. "You're back in Rosewood?"_

_"For now," Holden responded, "You know my dad can't stay in one place too long." _

_Aria chuckled, Holden and his family had returned several months earlier only to leave the small town again a few months later._

_"Are you sure you're okay?" Holden asked again. "I heard about the fire." He lifted his hand up to her arm in a friendly gesture._

_"Yeah," Aria replied. "It was nothing honestly."_

_"Aria?" A questioning voice from behind her said. Aria turned and came face to face with her boyfriend of three weeks – Jake._

_"Hey," she replied with a smile which soon dissolved when she noticed his stern expression. "Oh this is my friend Holden."_

_Holden introduced himself and the two men exchanged pleasantries._

_"We have to go or we'll miss our reservation." Jake said wrapping his fingers around Aria's wrist._

_"We'll catch up before I leave town," Holden said to Aria. She nodded and watched her friend walk away._

_Jake's grip on her wrist tightened as he walked them towards the entrance to the grille._

_"Ow," Aria shouted out in pain. "Jake you're hurting me. Stop it."_

_Jake stopped walking and his face softened, "I'm sorry," he replied lifting Aria's wrist up to his mouth. "I forget sometimes how strong I am," his lips brushed against the flesh and he laced his fingers through hers. "Shall we?" he asked pointing to the restaurant._

_Aria smiled and nodded her head and the couple walked hand in hand into The Grille._

Aria had woken up the following morning with a throbbing pain in her wrist and she'd been surprised by how badly bruised and swollen it was, she had sneaked downstairs and got an ice-pack from the freezer and spent the rest of her Saturday morning in her bedroom.

Jake had been so apologetic when he'd saw the bruises the following day yet just two days later during one of their 'one-on-one' self defence lessons he'd forgotten how strong he was once more and Aria had walked away from the class with a sore arm.

Every single other punch or kick had happened the exact same way and Jake had been full of apologies every single time saying that he simply 'forgot' who he was sparring with and Aria had naively believed him.

The previous night though had like the first time happened away from the martial arts centre, it had happened as they made their way home from the movies.

_The previous night_

_Aria discreetly looked at the time on her phone and sighed silently, the action movie that Jake had chosen for them to watch had already been going on for well over two hours and it didn't look like it was anywhere near the end. Aria was bored out of her mind, she leaned over towards her boyfriend "I'm just going to the bathroom," she whispered in his ear. She stood up, thankful that they'd chosen aisle seats and that she didn't have to disturb too many people on her way out. Once Aria had been to the bathroom she decided to hover in the lobby for a little while before going back in. She was absently staring at the posters for new releases when she heard someone say her name._

_"Aria Montgomery? Is that you?"_

_Aria turned at the sound and frowned when she saw an almost six foot tall guy with dirty blond hair wearing a movie theatre uniform standing there looking at her._

_"It's me," he replied sensing that Aria didn't have a clue who he was. "Aiden Jackson."_

_Aria opened her mouth in shock, Aiden had been a friend of Mike's before they'd moved to Iceland he'd been a scrawny little thing then and she hadn't seen him since their return. She'd heard that his parents had sent him to an all boys private school just outside of Rosewood._

_"Aiden?" she replied in shock. "You got big."_

_The teenager laughed, "I did," he nodded, "And you…stayed the same size!"_

_Aria chuckled, "Hey," she said. "I think I grew maybe a centimetre."_

_"Are you here alone?"_

_Aria shook her head and pointed towards the doors where the movie was playing, "I'm here with my boyfriend. You wouldn't know when the movie happens to finish would you?"_

_Aiden chuckled, "Action movies not your thing huh?"_

_Aria shook her head._

_"They're not really my thing either," he smiled. "It finishes at ten thirty so you have another thirty minutes left. If you don't want to go back in you could hang out with me by the concession stand? I'll give you a free soda?"_

_Aria smiled a part of her knew that she shouldn't but she really didn't want to spend the next thirty minutes being bored out of her mind. "Sure," she replied with a chuckle. "I'll have a Dr Pepper."_

_It was less than ten minutes later when Jake appeared and despite Aria's insistence that he watch the rest of the movie he told her that he'd much rather leave. Jake's car was parked a few blocks away and Aria was so busy trying to explain that Aiden was a friend of Mike's that she didn't see the punch to her side coming, it was hard enough to knock her to the floor and when Jake appeared above her Aria had assumed it was to apologise, to say that it was an accident and he hadn't meant to hit her so hard. She was wrong, this time however it was his foot that connected with her ribs not once but twice._

_The ride home had been silent the only sound had been Aria's soft shuddering sobs. Jake stopped the car outside her house and as he'd done so many times before he turned the engine off and climbed out, he walked around the passenger side and opened the door reaching his hand inside to help Aria out. _

_The gentleman had returned. _

_Jake held her hand as he walked her up the driveway to her house and Aria let him, she was too stunned and scared by the night's events to refuse. Then he apologised and said he'd just got so "mad seeing her flirting with another guy," he kissed her 'goodnight' and waited until she was safely inside her house before leaving._

_Byron was asleep on the couch and Aria quietly climbed the stairs to her bedroom where she removed her clothes and pulled on Ezra's sweatshirt, she silently walked across to the bathroom and opened the cabinet where the medicines were kept. She knew that the Tylenol she'd been using wasn't going to be enough tonight so she reached into the back of the cabinet and behind a box of tampons she found what she was looking for. The Vicodin that her father had been prescribed the previous year when he'd hurt his back, he'd only taken two but they'd made him feel sick so he'd shoved them into the cabinet and forgot about them - at least Aria hoped he'd forgotten about them, she took two out and swallowed them. _

_She'd hovered at the top of the stairs debating whether she should go back downstairs and wake her dad up to tell what had happened. But the reality was she was too scared, not of her father as she knew his anger would be directed towards Jake for doing this to her. No she was scared of what Jake's reaction would be to her telling people about what he'd done and she also realised that she was embarrassed that she had let it go on for so long so instead she'd crawled into her bed and waited for the painkillers to take effect._

_It was ironic that the man who had asked her when she had started self defence lessons with him if it was because she was afraid of her ex-boyfriend was now the very man that she was afraid of._

Aria closed her eyes, the sight of her bruised body made her feel physically ill. Jake had not only left her body bruised he had also severely battered her self-esteem. She climbed into the shower and let the hot water soothe her aching body and wash away her tears. Aria had no idea how long she stood under the spray for but it was long enough for her fingers to wrinkle and the water to turn tepid, she stepped out and carefully dried herself making sure not to aggravate any of her bruises. When she was fully dry Aria once again wrapped her fluffy bathrobe around her body, she then opened the cabinet and took out the bottle of vicodin she counted out four pills – two for now and two to take during school.

Once she was back in her bedroom she carefully dressed in the clothes that she'd chosen for the day, she attempted to style her hair but the pain in her ribs made it difficult so instead she tied it back into a loose ponytail. Aria then slicked some lip gloss on her lips and packed her bag with everything she needed for school, she opened her bedroom door and slowly walked downstairs although the pain in her ribs has subsided since she had taken she still felt pain if she made any sudden movements. Byron was already sitting at the kitchen table, "Hi," he said. "I didn't hear you come home last night."

"You were sleeping on the couch," Aria replied. "I didn't want to wake you."

Byron chuckled, "Did you have a good time?"

Aria nodded her head, nodding wasn't lying.

"Sit," Byron told her as he stood up, "And I'll make you breakfast."

"Thanks dad," she replied as she sat down. The truth was she wasn't in the slightest bit hungry, her appetite seemed to have disappeared around about the same time as her self esteem but she knew that because she had taken the vicodin that she would have to try and force something down.

"What would you like?" Byron asked. "I'll make you anything you want."

Aria smiled, any other time she would've jumped at this opportunity but not today. "Just toast please dad," she replied. "I ate a ton of popcorn and candy during the movie."

Byron chuckled and started making Aria her breakfast, once he'd finished he placed the toast, various condiments and a cup of coffee in front of her on the table. "I could run you to school if you'd like?" he said once he'd sat himself back down.

Aria nodded, "Yeah," she replied, "Thanks dad."

School had become her sanctuary in the last few weeks; it was the one place that was still "hers" the one place that Jake hadn't tarnished. She would often find herself staring at Ezra when she was sure nobody was watching, she wanted so desperately to ask him how he was but their relationship had become strictly teacher and student now and she knew that those questions were no longer any of her business. Instead she'd stare at him, during class, in the courtyard between lessons or even in the cafeteria trying to ascertain whether he was happy, whether he'd "moved on" like he'd told her too. Emily and Hanna had spent time with him for with college applications and through them she knew that he was spending more time with Malcolm but nothing else. Aria wasn't sure whether they knew more than they were letting on and were sheltering her from more heartache or whether Ezra simply wasn't divulging anything to them. Hanna told her that he always asked after her, "He still cares about you," she'd told her. "You should ask for his help too that way you can talk."

Aria had shook her head and pointed out that she had two parents who were teachers, the reality was she knew it would be too difficult to be alone with him in a strictly platonic capacity.

Aria's morning lessons dragged and by the time lunch-time rolled around she was almost crying with pain so she'd told her friends she'd meet them in the cafeteria and she'd gone to the girl's bathroom where she slipped into a stall locking the door behind her and took the two painkillers that she'd brought with her. She realised she felt tired, so she set an alarm on her phone and eased herself onto the floor in the stall, she was asleep within minutes.

English was the last lesson of the day and by this time Aria was starting to feel sick from the pain in her ribs; she felt dizzy and thought she might throw up. She took her usual seat and tried to concentrate on what Ezra was saying but it was too difficult, instead she stared at the desk in front of her and took deep breaths trying to will the pain and sickly feeling to go away. It wasn't working and she could feel the tears start to form in her eyes; she had to get out of the class before anyone saw so she raised her hand.

"Yes Aria?" Ezra asked he'd been in the middle of a discussion about Ernest Hemingway. "Do you have something to add?"

Aria shook her head, "Can I go to the bathroom please?"

Ezra frowned, "There's only twenty minutes of the lesson left can't you wait?"

"Not really," Aria replied.

Ezra nodded his head and Aria stood up slowly and walked to the front of the class, she waited while he wrote out a hall pass and left the room.

Ezra turned his attention back to the class and asked them to read until the end of class then he looked towards the door that Aria had just left through. He knew something was wrong with her, she normally loved English and would always get involved in discussions about the book they were reading but this least few weeks she'd been distant and uninterested and today he thought she looked pale. When five minutes had passed and Aria still hadn't returned Ezra slipped out of the class room and walked towards the bathrooms which were located at the far end of the corridor, he'd just passed the stairwell when through the glass window on the doors he noticed her sitting on the third stair, he stopped and pushed the door open.

"Aria," he said the concern evident in his voice. "Are you okay?"

Aria lifted her head up tears were streaming down her face but she didn't care.

"Oh Aria," Ezra said his voice softening no longer in "teacher" mode he was now an extremely concerned ex-boyfriend who was still head over heels in love with the woman in front of him.

"I just felt dizzy," Aria sobbed, she lifted her arm up to her face to wipe away some tears with the sleeve of her sweater and the pain that shot up her right side caused her to audibly gasp in pain.

"Aria," Ezra asked worriedly. "Please tell me what's wrong? I can't help you unless you tell me."

Aria looked up at him and desperately tried to fight back the tears. "Everything," she replied her voice almost a whisper. "Everything is wrong."

Unable to say it out loud she stood up and slowly lifted her sweater to reveal the mass of bruises that covered her torso; she dropped it just as quickly as fresh wave of tears started.

Ezra walked closer to her and gently wrapped his arms around her, "You're safe now," he whispered. "I promise I'll never let him hurt you like this again."

"I love you," Aria replied quietly. "I miss you. I need you."

Ezra kissed the top of her head, "I love you too," he replied truthfully. "Always."

"Always," Aria repeated.

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**I felt like I should end it there with Ezra finding out and them admitting they're still in love with each other.**

**Please review x**

**Also regarding my other stories I had a major disaster with the USB drive that I store them on and I'm currently waiting to see if it can be repaired. I'd stupidly forgotten to back up all the writing I'd done over the last few weeksand literally cried when it happened. Needless to say starting from scratch on the chapters I've worked on (IHON and Untitled) is too difficult at the moment. If it can't be repaired I promise I'll try and get new chapters up - I won't abandon the stories.**


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